As a coach, I’m at an interesting point in the year where I’m helping some teams prepare for their upcoming race season while others are already in the full swing of racing. This past week was a mix of both for me. I helped a team with their final pre-season preparations—like car shakedown and fine-tuning the setup—at Virginia International Raceway. Later in the week, I was with a team at Road Atlanta for the second International GT race of the season.
It was another spectacular turnout in the International GT series, and I was once again helping Goldcrest Motorsports drivers throughout the event. For some, it was their very first time at Road Atlanta, so I had the opportunity to work with them through all the nuances that track is famous for. Other drivers on the team already know the Road Atlanta circuit and were looking to continue their progress from Sebring last month.
It was a very fun and productive few days as the intensity ratcheted up from testing to qualifying to racing. The series drivers were rewarded with several clean races, without any full-course cautions. It was all green-flag racing! We also managed to get the final enduro in before the impending bad weather rolled in.
Kevin Maxim was on the podium in the final race of the weekend, a one-hour enduro. He also achieved a personal best lap time in the process!
Several of the drivers I was working with came away with podium results in their respective classes, which of course I was proud to see. It’s always rewarding to help drivers achieve their personal bests, not only with lap times but also in their race results.
Next, I’ll be heading to Sonoma Raceway this week for the first round of the 2023 SRO World Challenge Series. The team I was working with at VIR as well as some other clients will be starting their own racing seasons there at Sonoma.